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The new absorber production unit at Austrian collector and tank manufacturer Tisun has turned out to be a success: Since October 2011, the Pulsspeed Bender forms the meander pipe, while welding it simultaneously to the absorber plate - and then soldering it to the manifolds. The machine delivered by Austrian machinery supplier DTEC GmbH even pulls in the working material by itself. The system, which produces an absorber every three minutes, consists of different stations for cutting the absorber plate, drilling holes in the manifold pipes, soldering the pipe register and testing the pressure levels of the completed absorber. The heart of the absorber production line is the station, which in one single step, bends the pipe and welds it to the plate. Photo: DTEC/Tisun

Figure of a bending machine for serpentine absorbers: the bending head is situated in the middle of a horizontal table – in some cases supported by a sliding block to obtain the best bending angle.
Photo: SMI

What counts is the quality of the collar: Dagan´s punching machines possess a special die, which works together with the internal punch to optimize the form of the collar.Photo: Dagan Machine Engineering

A challenge for planners: Solar energy is used a lot in multi-storey residential buildings in Austria. The Austrian Institute for Renewable Technologies, AEE Intec, published a handbook of solar-supported heating networks in 2004. Photo: Tisun / Austria Solar

If solar energy is to be the primary or only source of heat for houses in the future, there will arise a need for storing it more efficiently. Materials have to be found that are able to hold more energy than water, but with less volume and higher loss. Task 32 of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Solar & Cooling programme was working on this issue. The scientists presented their results at the Eurosun 2008 in Lisbon, at the beginning of October.